The present invention is directed to speech therapy methods, and in particular to speech therapy methods for post-operative vocal organ cancer patients.
Experts in the profession of speech pathology work with patients whose speech or language skills are defective in one way or another. These specialists, called speech-language pathologists (xe2x80x9cSLPsxe2x80x9d), evaluate and correct defective speech and language and teach new speech and language skills. The field of speech therapy is often called speech pathology and SLPs are sometimes known as speech therapists, speech clinicians, or speech technicians.
Speech and language difficulties arise from a variety of physical problems, including cancer of the tongue or other vocal organs. Treatment in such instances typically involves surgery to remove cancerous growth from the affected vocal organs and post-operative chemotherapy treatment. Speech therapy is started as soon as possible after the operation to rehabilitate the affected vocal organs, and often takes place while a patient is undergoing chemotherapy. The method of speech therapy varies, but usually involves one-on-one sessions in which an SLP visually prompts a patient to make (utter) selected sounds that exercise the affected vocal organs. In many instances, the SPL develops practice drills during which the patient makes a series of such sounds in a predetermined or random pattern.
Post-operative cancer patients have several physical limitations that limit the patient""s ability to participate in the speech therapy sessions. Chemotherapy typically impairs a patient""s vision, limits manual dexterity, and generally renders a patient weak and immobile. Accordingly, the physically present of an SPL is typically required during speech therapy sessions to provide the visual prompts. Unfortunately, when an SPL is administering speech therapy to a first patient, a second patient may have to wait inactively for the SPL, and vice versa, thereby possibly increasing both patients"" recovery time.
What is needed is a speech therapy device that provides visual prompts for eliciting a predetermined or random series of aural responses from a post-operative cancer patient, and takes into account the physical limitations of the patient.
The present invention provides a portable speech therapy device that enables post-operative cancer patients to practice voice exercises without the direct supervision of an SLP by activating a series of colored indicator lights in a predetermined pattern or random pattern. During an initial therapy session, the patient is taught by an SPL that each indicator light corresponds to a certain sound (e.g., A, I, U, ER), and the patient is taught to make the corresponding sound when the associated indicator light is turned on. The device is then used by the patient outside of the SPL""s presence to practice making the sounds according to predetermined or random sequences that are initiated by actuation switches provided on the device. Accordingly, the portable speech therapy device can reduce recovery time by allowing patients making the sounds outside of the presence of an SPL (e.g., at home).
In accordance with the disclosed embodiment, the portable speech therapy device is mounted in a lightweight plastic housing, and includes four light-emitting indicators arranged along the top edge of the housing and several pushbutton actuation switches arranged along a side edge of the housing. Inside the housing is mounted a controller that detects actuation of a selected switch, and generates control signals that turn on and off the indicators in a pattern associated with the selected switch. Status indicators (e.g., LEDs) are provided next to each actuation switch that are turned on when an associated switch is selected by the patient/user.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the sequences associated with each actuation switch are made progressively more challenging. In one disclosed embodiment, this additional challenge takes the form of progressively shorter time periods allowed for the patient""s response. In another embodiment, each successive sequence includes a greater number of prompts. Another form of challenge is to change the sequence of indicator lights. These various challenges allow the patient to exercise, practice, and reinforce training learned in therapy at home without the direct supervision of an SLP, thereby potentially drastically reducing recovery time, and enabling the patient to resume improved speech much quicker than by conventional, SLP-supervised methods.